The present invention relates to a device for the continuous further transport of air in a fuel system, comprising a container with an inlet orifice and an outlet orifice for the fuel. The invention also relates to a replaceable unit for such a device.
In fuel systems of internal combustion engines air can sometimes be entrained with the fuel from the fuel tank. The air then collects to form pockets in the fuel pipes and other components of the fuel system.
It is customary to place a fuel filter in the highest part of the fuel system. The fuel filter is constructed in such a way that the air located in the fuel system is collected in the fuel filter. The fuel system can be freed from air manually at intervals, e.g. when the engine is being serviced, with the aid of an air-bleed screw, which forms part of the filter.
However, it has been found that the air collecting in the filter has a detrimental effect on the engine performance, because the air in the fuel system is compressible. There is also a problem with the manual bleeding of air, since the fuel drips onto the engine components in this operation.
One object of the present invention is therefore to provide a device for the continuous further transport of air in a fuel system in a way that does not affect the performance of internal combustion engines and prevents the spilling of fuel onto the engine components during the continuous further transport of air.
This is achieved by a device of the kind mentioned in the introduction, in which a tube placed in a container extends from the outlet orifice and opens into a collection space for air in the container.
With such a device, no air pockets are formed in the fuel system. The air that is entrained from the fuel tank is continuously conveyed further by the tube provided in the container, to be subsequently passed into the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine. Since the further transport of air is continuous, very little air reaches the combustion chamber at any given moment, and thus it does not have a significant effect on the functioning of the internal combustion engine. Since the air-bleed screw is superfluous in the case of the device according to the invention, the spilling of fuel onto the engine can be avoided.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a replaceable unit for the device according to the invention.
To achieve this, the tube is connected with a cover for the container; the shape of the cover defines the collection space inside the container, and the filter element incorporated for liquid or gaseous fuels is connected with the tube and/or the cover.
With such a replaceable unit, the continuous further transport of air can be maintained after the filter element has been replaced.